Hyundai says four more injuries tied to SUV rear power seat recall

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) – Hyundai Motor said on Friday it has reports of four minor injuries because rear power seats in new Palisade SUVs may trap a person as sales remained halted after an incident earlier this month in which a two-year-old girl was killed in Ohio.

Hyundai said on March 17 it was recalling 68,500 new Palisade SUVs in the United States ‌and Canada over an issue with power seats following the child’s death on March 7.

The South Korean automaker said last week ​that sales of its 2026 model Palisade Limited and Calligraphy trims had been halted indefinitely. It said the second- and third-row powered seat assemblies may not respond to contact with an occupant or object as intended during activation of some functions.

Hyundai began investigating in November after three reports of problems and initially assessed the issue as low risk to occupants and is still seeking to determine the root cause.

Hyundai said the March 7 fatality took place in the third row and it has four reports of minor injuries to second-row occupants, with a total of 17 unique vehicles with claims.

The automaker said on Friday it is beginning to roll out an over-the-air software update to enhance system ​response to contact with passengers, introduce additional operating safeguards and enhance overall ​system safety.

Hyundai urged caution when operating ‌second- ⁠and third-row power seat functions and told owners to ensure no person, including children, or object is in the seat or seat-folding area before operating the power seat.

It said it is working on a ​permanent recall fix and offering customers a rental vehicle until a full ​remedy is available.

Hyundai said on Friday the stop sale is in effect until the recall repair is finalized. Once this has been done and vehicles repaired, sales will resume. 

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Mihika Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair and Alexander Smith)